Elijah Nicholas Wilson (April 8, 1842 - December 26, 1915) was known as "Yagaiki" when among the Shoshones, and in his later years as "Uncle Nick" when entertaining young children with his adventurous exploits. He was a Mormon American pioneer, childhood runaway, "adopted" brother of

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ) are a Native American tribe with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshone: southern Idaho * Western Shoshone: Nevada, northern Utah * Goshute: western Utah, easter ...

Chief Washakie Washakie (1804/1810 – February 20, 1900) was a prominent leader of the Shoshone people during the mid-19th century. He was first mentioned in 1840 in the written record of the American fur trapper, Osborne Russell. In 1851, at the urging o ...

Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pik ...

rider for the

Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company The Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company was a stagecoach line that operated in the American West in the early 1860s, but it is most well known as the parent company of the Pony Express. It was formed as a subsidiary of the ...

stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

driver for Ben Holloday's Overland Stage,

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

, prison guard, farmer,

Mormon bishop In the Latter Day Saint movement, a bishop is the highest office of the Aaronic priesthood. It is almost always held by one who holds the office of high priest in the Melchizedek priesthood. The Latter Day Saint concept of the office differs signi ...

, prison inmate (unlawful cohabitation), carpenter/cabinet maker, fiddler, trader, trapper, and "frontier doctor" (diphtheria and smallpox). Wilson is remembered today due to the publication of derivative works based upon, and later-day republications of, his 1910 autobiography entitled ''Among the Shoshones'', such as ''The White Indian Boy: The Story of Uncle Nick Among the Shoshones'' (a volume of the World Book Company's ''In Pioneer Life Series''), ''The White Indian Boy'', and its sequel ''The Return of the White Indian''. He founded

Wilson, Wyoming Wilson is a census-designated place (CDP) in Teton County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 1,567 at the 2020 census, up from 1,482 in 2010. It is part of the Jackson, WY– ID Micropolitan Statistical Area. Wilson was pioneered ...

. His life was highlighted in the 2000 movie ''Wind River''.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Elijah Nicholas 1842 births 1915 deaths American memoirists American autobiographers Writers from Illinois Mormon pioneers American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints People convicted of cohabitation Pony Express riders American people convicted of bigamy Latter Day Saints from Wyoming